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Monday, August 5, 2013

Crape Myrtle Cuttings

I kept driving by my neighbors house and admiring their Crape Myrtle's.

I love the color and the bark of these fabulous tree. I just had to get them! So I pulled up one day and introduced myself and asked if I could get some cuttings.

The result was successful! They cut these straight from the bottom. You need to be able to bend the new growth, if it doesn't break, you have new growth which is perfect for cuttings!

I just saved so much money not having to go to a nursery!

You first start out by lining a pot with a coffee filter. This works two ways, it helps your excess water to drain and it also retains some of the moisture needed for cuttings.

Fill the pot with dirt, in our case, some Oklahoma Red Dirt! Water completely.

Bust out your cinnamon.

Cinnamon is a natural root hormone.

For transport, one or two large gallon plastic baggies with wet paper towels will keep them happy until you can cut them and give them a new home.

I wanted to use my largest cutting to show that you need to take off all of the leaves on the bottom part of the branches. I had several large limbs, I took many cuttings off one branch. Then I cut off the leaves on the bottom, keeping the leaves on top cut back if they are long.

Dip all of your cuttings into water.

Dip them in cinnamon.

Poke a hole in the wet dirt with a stick or pencil. Then put your crape myrtle in the soil and secure the soil around the cutting.

I did several sizes of crape myrtle and we'll see which ones survive. Keep your soil damp, not soaked, not dry. The roots will take place and you can transplant them into the ground when they have established one new 'limb'. Do not try tugging on your cutting, you could damage your newly formed roots that way! Don't transplant during super hot times. (I won't be transplanting till the fall). Keep outside, but keep it protected from direct sunlight until it's a little more established. My back porch works great, receiving light but not drying out!